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Driver who hit bear near 210 Freeway not to blame, officials say

August 27, 2012 | 2:56
pm

The driver who hit a young bear in La Cañada Flintridge on Sunday is not to blame for the accident, a California
Department of Fish and Game spokesman said Monday.

The bear was hit
by a car about 7 a.m. Sunday at Foothill Boulevard and Vineta
Avenue, in front of a McDonald’s restaurant, according to the Los Angeles County
Sheriff’s Department. The bear climbed a fence and headed into the
bushes before authorities arrived but was spotted about 1 p.m. a few
blocks away, behind a Starbucks at a shopping mall on Foothill and Gould Avenue, near the 210 Freeway.

Law
enforcement officials, Fish and Game authorities and volunteers with
Montrose Search and Rescue established a perimeter around the bear, which
was in the foliage between the coffee shop and the 210.

The bear was a
male, about 150 to 200 pounds, and about 2 years old, according to Fish
and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan.

Hughan said the bear had
enough strength after the accident to go about 150 yards from where it
was struck, but it wouldn’t have been able to obtain enough food to
survive in the wild. At 4 p.m., Fish and Game authorities tranquilized
the bear and determined its injuries were life threatening.

“Its
hips were severely damaged, legs broken, it had internal bleeding,”
Hughan said. “There’s no reasonable way to heal or cure or repair that
much damage to an animal.”

The driver who struck the bear was unhurt, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

“Imagine
driving down the road at 7 o’clock in the morning , you haven’t had
your coffee yet and a bear comes out in the road. It’s very much a panic
situation,” Hughan said. “I don’t think anybody’s blaming the motorist.
It’s just bad luck for the bear.”